A girlfriend of mine from home asked me today what I missed most and I really had to think about it for awhile. It made me realize that there are very few things I miss from home outside of the obvious (family and friends!). The food is incredibly good here with a wide variety of options. If there was any kind of food that I miss I would have to go with Chinese food. There really isn't any of that here and of the Chinese food that does exist, it is pretty awful (trust me, I tried). God I miss orange chicken. Luckily, there is extremely good Thai food here, which I would consider a great alternative. I thought today that I missed waking up in the morning and having a latte from Starbucks but suddenly realized how great it is to be "off" coffee. All other things that I crave are here. I constantly eat my favorite food of all-time, acai with bananas and granola, and there is a plethora of smoothies and guava juice here. What else could I possibly ask for??? Obviously, from a lifestyle perspective, it's tough to say that I miss my daily routine in SF when I spend the majority of my days at some of the best beaches in the world surfing and hanging out. I do miss the fact that I didn't ski this season. I really slacked in that department this year since I was so focused on getting things together for the move. The good times in Tahoe are unbelievable and I wish I would have taken at least one trip this season. There are days when I miss speaking English but I realize how important it is to keep learning and trying even if I can't really explain to people what I'm really feeling (I can't possibly explain how hard that is). The number one thing I would say I miss most is just having many friends around to do whatever. I suddenly have all the free time in the world and not many people to enjoy it with. Luckily, I don't mind being by myself and I am most certainly fully entertaining myself during the day. I don't want to use the word "busy" and risk offending someone from back home but let's just say that I try to stay very "active." With that being said, I realize that part of the fun of all of this is meeting new people and having new experiences. The good news is that Brazilians are the friendliest people I've ever met. Therefore, over the past few weeks I've been trying to make an effort to really meet new friends and do more things with them. These things take time and I'm enjoying the process, difficult as it may be. The interesting thing is that 90% of my friends here are girls but I guess that is a product of the environment. I'm having a party at the house next week and I realized today that I'm inviting about 30 girls and 5 guys and it's not even intentional. I hope my brother and Chris appreciate it!
I would add that the one thing I don't miss is wearing shoes. I probably wear shoes here once a week and maybe twice a week. I live in sandals and my bare feet. Again, what else could I ask for? I also don't miss the mass consumerism of the US. People here eat less, drink less, etc. and it's very refreshing. It's amazing to step back and see how other cultures exist. If Brazilians can live like this and still be as happy as they are, couldn't we all???
I'm sure my friend was expecting a lot more from me out of the question but the truth is, life is good here and I have very, very, little to complain about....
No comments:
Post a Comment